


Bonds

by Iceshard1011



Series: Ruby Wings [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Bonding, Creativitwins, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, Gen, Mild Language, Please someone give it to him, Still, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Violence, kind of, they're bad at this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iceshard1011/pseuds/Iceshard1011
Summary: It started at one in the morning, when Remus thundered down the stairway chasing after a terrified-looking dragon.
Relationships: Anxiety & Creativity & Dark Creativity & Deceit & Logic & Morality, Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton, pre-romantic DRLAMP
Series: Ruby Wings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884613
Comments: 28
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It started at one in the morning, when Remus thundered down the stairway chasing after a terrified-looking dragon.

Virgil and Janus were the only ones in the living room. Virgil had been spending a sort-of movie marathon with Logan and Patton, but it'd been less involved than usual. Logan had been distractedly typing on his laptop, and Patton had already dozed off halfway through the first movie. Logan had led Patton upstairs, parting with his own goodnight.

"Where's the rest of the menagerie?" Janus had asked when he came almost silently down the stairs and settled himself comfortably on the other end of the couch.

"What, is my company not enough?" Virgil had replied with a smirk.

They'd... talked. A lot, before this night. Some things were still very tense and uncertain between all of the sides, but the six of them were much closer than they had been, which was a monumental improvement. Virgil didn't have to worry about Remus tormenting Patton for fun or Logan and Janus getting into heated fights. Granted, on rare occasions, Roman and Remus would get into a scuffle in the middle of the living room, or Virgil would feel too anxious with Janus and Remus around that he'd have to retreat to his room, but most of the time it was fine. Good, even. The feeling was refreshing.

They'd lapsed into comfortable silence.

And then the twins, followed extremely close one after the other, had exploded into the room.

Remus caught Roman mid-air with a swing of his mace. The hit sent the small dragon flying across the room where he hit the ground and skidded beneath the couch.

That's when Janus stepped in, holding his hands out. He immediately caught Remus in easy conversation, distracting him from the creature he'd been chasing. Virgil only vaguely listened to what they were saying — Remus was excited about his brother's form, having only heard it from the others and never seeing it himself, Janus was scolding him for swinging his weapon around carelessly — and crouched at the base of the couch.

"Hey," he started. Talons lashed out from beneath the couch, missing Virgil's face by a hair. _"Hey!"_ he yelped, jerking back. He glowered down at the hint of red scales, but his heart pricked when he bent back down and spied the pair of enormous, terrified eyes peering out at him.

"Come on," he said, a strange mix between gentle and gruff that even he didn't fully understand. "You know I won't hurt you."

Virgil was gratified when Roman hardly hesitated before slithering awkwardly out from the couch and right into the anxious side's arms.

He stood, tucking the little dragon into his hoodie and let him wiggle until he was comfortable enough to settle. Virgil had quickly found that it was one of Roman's favourite places to be as a dragon. He seemed to have a strange appeal for the other sides' clothing. Virgil had never worked out why but now whenever one of them found Roman curled in Janus' hat or buried under Patton's abandoned cat hoodie, no one questioned it.

It was easier for Virgil, he found, too. In his usual form, Virgil would have never even considered showing this much affection for the creative side, but somehow when he was tiny and scaley and unable to blabber with that insufferable voice of his, it was easier to hold him and be near him and tell him what he needed to hear.

Virgil wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He should have been able to express love for the others. Patton certainly didn't have a problem with it; he was always hugging and patting the others with a bright smile on his face. Virgil had always felt slightly guilty that he could never display the same kind of love for his family.

Roman shifting in his arms brought him out of his musing. He looked down and raised an eyebrow at the little dragon who was currently attempting to bury even further into Virgil. It almost tickled, but Roman didn't look like he was enjoying himself. Across the living room, Remus' protests were becoming louder.

_Ah._

"Hey!" Virgil barked, catching both Janus and Remus' attention. He glared at the intrusive creativity. "Find your own dragon to bother."

Remus huffed. "I just want to—"

"Remus," Janus interjected quietly. He gave Remus a patient look. Virgil was mildly surprised that he couldn't quite read what else was in that look; he was used to knowing what all the unspoken messages between the others meant — it was one of the things he was best at.

Remus growled and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever," he grumbled. He shot his brother a curious-resentful mix of a look before stalking off. Virgil and Janus watched him go, the tension bleeding from the room.

Roman wiggled. Virgil arched an eyebrow down at him in silent questioning. _Better?_

Roman nuzzled his snout into Virgil's side. It was probably _supposed_ to be grateful, but it only made Virgil tense.

"Not the ribs," he reminded the tyrant, who sheepishly recoiled to instead rest carefully against Virgil's chest.

"Still ticklish there, are we?" Janus said. Virgil almost jumped. He hadn't realised he had stayed.

"No," he said.

Janus smirked. Virgil stuck his tongue out at him.

The pair settled back onto the couch, this time with a plus one. Virgil pretended not to notice the contemplative look Janus was giving him as he stroked his hands down Roman's scales. He did his best to ignore the half-snake's gaze and focus entirely on the creative side's strange little body. His scales were well-kept — probably a result of Patton or Logan — and shone when they caught the light, sparkling rose and garnet. Virgil moved his hand from one of Roman's wings to gentle fiddle with his tiny talons. One time, Janus had called them raisins and sent Virgil and Patton into a fit of laughter. Roman had stomped over to Logan and sulked on his shoulder for the remainder of the day.

Currently, the problem was that Janus wasn't exactly being subtle about his staring, and Virgil was starting to get antsy. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling uncomfortably and the more he actively tried to focus on Roman, the more his brain seemed to notice Janus' gaze.

Predictably, Virgil gave up quickly.

"What?" he snapped abruptly, snapping his head up to glare at Janus.

Janus blinked, as if he hadn't even noticed the odd look crossing his face — ha, right — and tilted his head.

"Thinking," he supplied unhelpfully.

Virgil looked at him through narrowed, expectantly eyes. Janus' lips twitched into a smile. His distant, mismatched gaze travelled down to Roman, now nearly asleep against the anxious side's chest.

Virgil followed his gaze. He gently stroked the dragon's cheeks with a finger. Roman's entire body shuddered with delight, but he didn't open his eyes.

"Janus?" he asked softly. Janus hummed questioningly in response. "Do you think there's a way to fix this?"

"Roman's... transforming?" Janus murmured.

Virgil nodded. He watched as Janus' face softened into his I'm-considering-sensitive-subject-matter expression.

"I'm not sure," he said after a small eternity, and it took Virgil off-guard with how vulnerable he sounded. Surely, he couldn't care that much about Roman?

"I thought you hated him," he said without thinking and immediately wanted to saw his tongue out with a pocketknife.

Janus looked at him archly, only half-mockingly. Virgil watched carefully for any signs that Roman was feigning sleep and listening in on the conversation.

"I..." Janus said, and Virgil was surprised that he was gracing the outburst with a reply. Virgil wouldn't have. "I was hurt, and angry, and narrow-minded." The snake-faced side clenched his hands together and stared down at them. "I wanted to take out your absence on someone, and I was tired of blaming myself. So, I figured the easiest targets to hate would be the ones you left me for."

Virgil opened his mouth, but Janus beat him to it.

"It wasn't anybody's fault," he said, pulling his gaze up to lock it with Virgil's. "I know that. Now, at least. It won't happen again, I—"

"I know," Virgil said so quickly he almost talked over him. Janus nodded, looking grateful. "I'm sorry for bringing it up," he added quietly.

Janus squinted at him with a mild smirk, his usual snark creeping back into his demeanour. "I'm sure withholding inner turmoil and troubling thoughts is a brilliant way to work through issues."

Virgil rolled his eyes to Janus' soft chuckling. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and yawned without his consent. Roman was lifted with his chest but didn't stir.

Janus stood and stretched, a little exaggeratedly. "Time to head in?" he suggested.

Virgil sighed. It was kind of late. He shimmied carefully into an upright position, cautiously trying not to disturb Roman too much. He waved Janus off when he stepped forward to take the dragon and stood, cradling the mythical creature against him.

"See you in the morning," he said. Janus smiled at him and Virgil ignored how much he'd missed that look.

"Certainly not," he replied.

Virgil briefly considered the idea of depositing Roman into his own room to spend the night, but ultimately decided against it. Logan had told them once (when Roman wasn't around) that when Logan had left Roman as a dragon in his own room, he'd woken up incredibly distressed and hadn't stopped crying at Logan's door until he was let in. It was pathetic, really, but Virgil found he was glad to keep the creative side with him as he creeped into his room.

It wasn't until Virgil had settled onto his bed and was seconds from drifting off that he remembered he'd forgotten to ask Janus what he was thinking about.

Something shattered.

It was probably some priceless artifact. Could have been a water glass. Maybe a pretty, little dust-gatherer given as a gift.

Roman didn't turn around to find out. It certainly wasn't the first thing that Remus had broken since he had barged into the bedroom.

"Wow, not even a reaction for that one?" Remus asked Roman's back. He snorted when he didn't get a response. "Silence treatment?"

"I'm concentrating," Roman replied through gritted teeth. In truth, he was staring down at the papers scattered across his desk and trying to block out his brother's antics, but he wasn't saying that out loud.

"On what?" Remus asked, bouncing forward. He jumped and sat himself down onto the corner of the desk and scooped up a stray piece of paper. His eyes barely began to scan the dot-pointed ideas before he threw it away with an eye-roll. "Boring."

"They're better than anything you could come up with," Roman snapped, snatching the paper from the air.

"Debatable," Remus said with a razor-sharp grin. Roman glowered at him and looked back down at his work.

"Can you get out?" he grumbled. "I have a job to do."

"You're _always_ doing that stupid 'job'," Remus said. Roman glared up at him, ready to defend his purpose and duty to provide ideas for Thomas, but Remus went on; "You hardly ever have _fun_ anymore. It's so boring! I never get to have fun with you."

Roman blinked. That was... unexpected. "Fun?" he echoed softly.

"Yeah!" Remus agreed, flopping back to lounge across the desk, careless of the papers he knocked to the ground. "Like ripping out whale intestines, and tying griffin tails together and watching them try to fly in opposite directions, and—"

"Okay, enough imagery," Roman said, waving him away. "What's the goal this time? To annoy me until I spontaneously combust?"

Remus didn't answer for a moment and when Roman glanced over his shoulder at him, he found his brother _pouting._ He muttered something. Roman tilted his head. "What?"

"I want to see you turn into a dragon," Remus whined. "You're so small and weird-looking. I kind of want to hang your wings on my bed."

Roman shuddered, feeling like the skin across his back was crawling. He tried not to think about how it would feel to have his wings ripped from his body, but the combined imaginative power of both Thomas' Creativities in the same room didn't do him any favours.

"Sorry to break it to you," he grumbled, "but I don't think I'm desperate enough to form right now."

"I wish you could do it on command," Remus said.

"I wish it didn't happen at all," Roman muttered.

"I wish _I_ was the cursed one." Something else shattered as Remus marched around the room one more. "I wouldn't waste my time as a DRAGON moping around the commons."

"I'm sorry that I never wanted to be like this," Roman snapped. He heard Remus still and wondered if he should be regretting what he said. He didn't, really. He meant what he'd said, and he wasn't going to apologise for it. It wasn't like _Remus'_ feelings would've been hurt.

"Why _aren't_ you desperate enough?" Remus whined. "Should I do something else to stress you out even more?"

Roman didn't answer.

A few more broken trophies, a snapped bedpost, and some grumbling later, a dissatisfied Remus stomped out of the room. In the sudden still silence, Roman's quiet sigh sounded like a storm's gale-like winds. He thumped his head against the desk.

Remus visited again, a couple of days later. And then the next week. And the night following a filmed video. His trips to Roman's room became a frequent, regular thing and were strangely not particularly unwelcoming. Roman did mourn the loss of some of his belongings, however. Remus always left his room a mess and it was a pain to clean up, especially if Roman didn't want to completely dispel some of the more fixable things, but the prince found he was okay with the trade-off.

Roman wasn't about to say he _enjoyed_ Remus' adventures to his room, but he never outright said he hated them, either. He was always very careful about that, no matter how much he knew Remus wouldn't care what came out of Roman's mouth.

This time, though, Roman was hoping his brother _wouldn't_ choose this day to turn up to annoy him.

Naturally, Remus chose that moment to bust the door down.

"Dear brother," Remus bellowed, stomping into the room like he always did. "What terrible things can I bother you with today?" He'd done it enough times for Roman to know he was scanning the room for breakables.

"Could you _stop_ breaking everything within arm's reach when you come in here?" Roman asked.

Remus gave him a considering look. "Would it be better if I started _bringing_ things in here, instead?" he asked back, seriously.

"Worse," Roman said quickly. "Much worse."

Remus nodded, seemingly taking that onboard. He turned and smashed a painting. Roman groaned and flopped backwards against his desk.

"Can I at least lay down some ground rules?" Roman begged as the frame loosened from its hook and fell to the ground with a crash.

"I've been at this for weeks and _now_ you want to restrain me?" Remus asked over his shoulder as he poked at the shattered glass with the toe of his boot.

Roman sighed heavily and rubbed his temple. The throbbing of his head that had been making his own body ache all day was beginning to make his vision fuzzy. Or maybe that was the lack of sleep.

"Just listen to me," he pleaded. "I'm not in the mood, now, Remus. Could we have a civil conversation for once?"

Remus scoffed. _"Civil?_ Okay, dumbass." Roman shot him a dirty look. Remus stuck his bottom lip out in a mock pout. "Awe, what? Poor Princey upset about that audition?"

Roman groaned, burying his face into his hands. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You messed up," Remus said with a giggle. "Or, worse, you made _Thomas_ mess up. It's hilarious."

Roman looked up at him with a withering glare. "Stop it," he grumbled.

Remus snorted, genuinely entertained. "You know I'm not going to listen to anything you say," he said. "Or anything _anyone_ says."

"Then get out," Roman snapped. Remus tilted his head up at him and Roman realised with a start that he was standing. He swallowed the anger that had risen in his throat. "Sorry," he muttered, turning and leaning against his desk. He blinked, the headache feeling like it was trying to pound out through his skull.

Remus didn't sound bothered when he replied with an elongated, "Oooh-kay." Roman heard him bounce to his feet. "Got anything in here that you're okay with me breaking?"

 _"No."_ Roman's voice almost sounded like a snarl, and he hated it. Something felt like it was clawing at the edges of his mind, and it made his hands shake. He didn't know what it was, and he didn't like that, and he just needed to be alone, Remus needed to leave, _Remus please leave—_ "Remus, just come back later."

Remus only scoffed. Roman didn't know how it was _that_ that set him off. But he didn't remember what happened next.

Remus grunted as he was bowled over.

He rolled, narrowly avoiding the dark claws that tore into the carpet where his head had been moments ago. He scrambled to his feet and stared at— his brother? He backpedaled from Roman's bedroom. The horse-sized dragon lunged for him, but he slammed the door in its face. The door thumped from the other side.

What the _fuck._

Okay, sure, Remus had been trying to annoy Roman — and he'd been successful, as far as he could tell, but wasn't his dragon form supposed to be tiny? Like, a lizard that was trying really hard to grow?

The door thumped again, and this time the hinged groaned in protest. Remus was honestly a little surprised the dragon hadn't smashed through yet. Even as a legendary fire-breathing beast, Roman was weak. Typical.

And that dragon _was_ Roman, right? Regardless of the fact that he was supposed to be small and stupid, maybe decidedly cute, and placid? Because Remus was getting mixed feelings between the pained shrieks and enraged, wild eyes that had both come from Roman when his body had started to morph and twist into its scaly form.

Roman had told him once that while transforming wasn't completely painless, it felt like a pulled muscle everywhere for only a few seconds. Roman — or any of the others, for that matter — had never mentioned that raw screeches that had ripped from Roman's throat.

The door banged again.

Remus frowned at it. Why hadn't he just fought back when Roman had lunged for him? The moment the dragon — much larger than Remus thought he'd be — had staggered to its feet, it — _he_ had made a blind lunge for Remus. The Duke had half a mind to open the door back up and fight his crazed brother, but a voice made him glance toward the staircase.

"Remus?" Patton's voice called. "Kiddo, everything okay?"

Remus glanced between the direction of the living room and Roman's door. There was a beat of silence. The door had stopped being assaulted from the other side. In fact, Remus could barely hear anything at all.

Perfect. If Roman wasn't going to come out and cause more of a fuss, Remus didn't see how it was his problem much longer.

"Yep," he called back down.

"Oh, good," Patton said. "Do you think you could come and help me with dinner?"

Remus wrinkled his nose. He didn't know why Patton was offering, he always caught Remus trying to dump decidedly inedible or, at the very least, tasteless things into the mix of whatever they were making.

But he also liked spending time with Patton (though he'd never admit it) and the moral side certainly seemed like he'd be more fun to terrorize than Roman right now.

 _Stupid brother, kicking up a tantrum,_ he thought bitterly as he headed downstairs to help make dinner.

It was a movie marathon, the night later, that Roman made his next appearance after being cooped up in his room since Remus had pissed him off enough to turn him feral. He hadn't mentioned the incident to anyone else, because honestly, he didn't see the point. He hadn't cared enough to remember.

So, when Roman trudged down the stairs, looking frail and exhausted, Remus didn't really care that he was the only one who barked with a laugh.

"Looking good, Garbage Prince," he said. Roman didn't rise to the bait, which was boring.

"Oh, you don't look like you need a nap _at all,"_ drawled Janus. Roman shot him a look full of daggers, which was surprising. The two usually got along, even amongst the name-calling and sarcastic snipes that often filled their interactions.

"I'm fine," Roman muttered under his breath. Janus raised an eyebrow at him, but Remus didn't think anyone was looking. "Start the damn movie."

Remus grinned toothily as Roman sat on the ground in front of him, leaning back against the couch.

"Someone's in a great mood, I see," he said, tugging on Roman's hair. At the end of the couch, Janus smirked. Remus grinned toothily at him. Roman ducked out of Remus' hands with a grumble.

"What are we watching?" Patton asked, looking between the other sides.

Remus poked Roman in the back of the head. "No clue. What do you think, bitch?"

"Stop touching me," Roman snapped back at him in response.

Remus' lips stretched into a wide smile. "What, like this?" he asked, jabbing his brother again, and then nudging him with his foot. "Does this bother you? Are you bothered?" He prodded more at the prince before Roman pulled away and stood, whirling to face him.

"I said STOP," he snarled, his — pointed? — teeth bared. Remus blinked, surprised. He almost snorted, but a quick glance around the living room informed him that no one else was sharing his amusement.

Roman gripped his hair, staring at the ground. Virgil moved before Remus thought to, standing up and cautiously moving to the prince. He started talking in a low voice. Remus didn't listen, he didn't care much for Virgil's techniques to avoid a panic attack, but he did keep his gaze on his brother. Was he still pissed about Remus annoying him a few nights ago? Roman was known to keep grudges, so it wasn't exactly out of the question.

Remus realised his gaze had dropped to his hands, absentmindedly pulling at the material of the couch. He looked up and found Janus had moved too, and now both he and Virgil were at Roman's side, speaking in slow, careful tones.

Remus wasn't sure Roman could hear them though. His eyes were blown wide, staring wildly into space. His breath was wheezing in and out of his mouth as he hyperventilated. Remus frowned. He couldn't have freaked his brother out this much, could he? He was very much aware that he was annoying, and his brother hated him on the best of days (and it was great, he got annoyed really easily), but Remus couldn't remember any times where he'd _scared_ Roman. He knew he still freaked Patton at times, and Virgil could get uncomfortable around him, but he'd known Roman longer than any of the others. Early on Roman had gotten used to Remus' foul behaviour and questionably acceptable mannerisms. Roman wasn't afraid of much, and he certainly wasn't afraid of Remus.

But before Remus could piece all of this together and stand up to try and fix whatever had shaken Roman so badly, the prince screamed, Virgil and Janus stumbled back, and a red dragon that took up half the living room roared at all of them.

Janus was the first one to get knocked down. The Roman Dragon lunged instantly for the snake-faced side. His weight shoved Janus to the ground where he pinned him and snarled in his face. Remus almost laughed (the expression of terror was clear on Janus' face, and it was hilarious) but then Patton screamed and both Remus and Roman's attention was yanked over to the moral side.

"What's going on?" Virgil's voice was rough and bordering on warped. Roman, a snarling and deranged mess, snapped around to look at Virgil. His tail lashed, knocking into the lamp near the television and sending it crashing to the ground. "What's gotten you in such a pissy mood?" Virgil snapped at him. Roman snarled in response, saliva dripping from his bared fangs, and the anxious side paled.

"H-he's so b-big!" Patton squeaked.

"He's probably just grumpy that I distracted him the other night," Remus said over Roman's growling.

"What— _Remus!"_

Janus' bark made Remus turn to face him, about to ask what he'd done wrong, when a heavy, scaly force slammed into him from behind. He ate the carpet (he'd tried that already; it wasn't particularly delicious — the lightbulbs tasted better — and started to struggle before a growl above him stilled his movement.

"What the hell," he grunted, the floor rubbing against his cheek. "Get off me, you big lump!"

Janus' smooth, calming voice drifted over Remus. The claws that had begun to dig into Remus' shoulders unhooked, but Roman didn't move. Remus waited impatiently as Janus went on and his stupid, dragon-brother slowly continued to move off of him.

The moment Roman's weight shifted from his back Remus leapt up. A hand gripped his wrist and he turned to see Logan.

"Why are you not taking this seriously?" the logical side asked quietly.

"I don't take anything seriously, Book Fucker," Remus told him. Logan sighed and Remus shrugged. "Why should this be taken seriously, anyway? Roman has always been dramatic, hasn't he?"

"Not like this," Logan said, sounding almost a little crazed. Remus could bet it was driving the nerd crazy not knowing anything about the situation. "He's never been like this before. He— he's acting like a feral animal— he _is,_ by definition, a feral animal, right now. He's not listening to any of us, he—"

"Oh, would you _relax,"_ Remus said, Logan's onslaught on thoughts beginning to give him a headache. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."

Logan paused, his eyes blown wide. "What?" he hissed.

"He threw a temper tantrum like this before," Remus said nonchalantly. "I was bothering him in his room, and he went all dragon-witch and chased me out. Bit of a bitch move, to be honest, but he's always been a—"

"Wait, wait." Logan cut him off, raising his hands. "Focus. How did you get him to calm down?"

Remus blinked at him. "Uh," he said, and Logan paled.

"You don't know?" he cried. Behind him, Janus yelped. Virgil shouted something, but Remus couldn't hear it over Roman's roars and Patton's cries.

"I didn't try!" Remus protested. "I'm not good with flowery, nice, comforting words, you know that! You all do! What makes you think I would think to stick around and try to help him? Helping is the worst thing I'm good at!"

"That— that doesn't—" Logan gripped his head.

A mangled screech cut through the living room.

Remus whirled to see that Patton had thrown himself at Roman, his arms flung around the dragon's neck and burying his face in the red-scaled back. Roman was stiff, his eyes round and pupils dilated.

"Take deep breaths," Janus was saying slowly. Remus was about to tell him to stop wasting his time, but then Roman whimpered and hunkered toward the ground.

Except— he wasn't crouching, he was shrinking.

Remus watched with awe as the dragon's body shifted and morphed, his scales growing small and his tail curling inward, until he was a tiny red scrap, only slightly bigger than Remus'—

A loud, shrieking whine erupted from Roman's throat.

Virgil stepped forward, reaching for the trembling lizard. "Hey, it's al—"

Roman let out a squeaking snarl and scrambled away from the anxious side's hands, his sides heaving. Virgil frowned at him.

"Come on," he said. "You know I'm not gonna hurt you." He reached forward again, but Roman somehow only looked more panicked.

A small spiral of fire shot from Roman's jaws. Virgil yelped and jerked back, nursing a now reddened hand. Janus was at Virgil's side in moments, and Logan was approaching Roman.

Roman took one look at the sides around him, and fled.

"Well," Remus said into the still room. "So much for movie night."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbc
> 
> 'Book Fucker' nickname credit to PurpleCatGhost


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Remus talk. Kind of. (Not really.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part two.
> 
> as far as i have it planned, this is the end of this short yet admittedly self-indulgent series. if you have any questions i'll be happy to answer. thank you for sticking around and i hope you enjoyed.

"Oh." Patton's whooshing breath broke the silence that had swallowed the room. He sounded on the verge of tears when he laughed wetly. "He keeps getting faster and faster." He sniffed and rubbed a wrist beneath his eyes. "Barely saw him run up those stairs."

Upstairs, the sound of a door slamming shut echoed down to them. Patton's forced smile immediately dissipated, and he let out a distressed cry, lunging for the staircase. Virgil darted in front of him, holding him back.

"We can't barge in on him," Virgil said. Remus wondered distantly how such a small dragon could have shut a door like that with such force.

"All of our presences would just stress him out even further," Logan agreed. His normally firm voice was wavering silently, and his hair was uncharacteristically disheveled. Janus frowned, but didn't offer his own thoughts. Virgil glanced at the deceitful side when he didn't agree but then looked quickly away again. Remus frowned at that.

"Remus?" The intrusive creativity looked over at Logan, who was watching him expectantly. "Do you think you could go after him? After all, you seem to already be acquainted with his more… inhumane moods."

"He is?" Janus asked archly, shooting Remus a sidelong glance.

"Out of all of us, you chose Remus?" Virgil demanded at the same time.

Logan frowned at Virgil. "Would you rather go and run the risk of both of you panicking?" he challenged. Remus thought on other occasions, Logan might've been gentler in the counter, but he still seemed shaken, maybe even more so than the rest of them. "Or should Patton go, who's crying too hard to form a sentence?" He gestured to the moral side, who was leaning against Janus, now openly sobbing. "Or Janus, or me, who have a hard enough time as it is on the best of days to get along with Roman without getting into an argument, serious or not? Or—"

"Okay, fine," Virgil snapped. "Fine. Whatever." He waved a hand at Remus. "Just hurry up."

Remus, now apparently with a job, turned to the stairs and slowly climbed up them. How was he the best candidate to help? Surely Virgil was right, and someone else would've been a better pick.

He was almost in a daze as he walked down the hall and got to Roman's red door. He knocked experimentally on it and wasn't exactly surprised when he didn't get a reply. He opened it and entered the bedroom anyway.

He was somehow even less surprised when he found it empty.

Remus sighed, turning to the usually closed door that led into the Imagination. Tellingly, it was open a crack. It creaked in the breeze that trickled out from the world beyond.

Having half a mind to go fetch the others to take with him, Remus groaned. It didn't happen often, but Remus was not in the mood to do things right now.

He doubted anyone else would be any more keen than him, however, to adventure off into the Imagination. He was the best equipped, anyway, with experience alone.

So, without much further thought, he kicked the door fully open and stomped into the Imagination.

Grass crunched under his boots, which was a little worrying. Usually the vegetation was green and lush on Roman's side of the Imagination. Crunching meant dying, dry foliage. Remus wouldn't normally mind (it tasted great), but it didn't belong on this side of the world.

The trees looked healthy enough, he supposed, as he wandered through the forest. It was a little dark, though. He couldn't really see the sky over the canopy, but clouds heavy enough to block out the sun was another red flag. Roman really wasn't feeling great, was he?

 _Well, really..._ "What's new?" Remus muttered to himself.

When he broke from the tree line, he paused to appreciate the castle ruins on the hill before him. The others had (eventually) told him about Roman's castle that had been destroyed the first time the Dragon Witch cursed him. He wondered why Roman hadn't fixed it yet. Had he revisited this part of the Imagination at all since then?

He made his way up to the half-crumpled build of intricate spiraling towers and typical, fantasy courtyards.

Strangely, the huge wooden double doors were already creaked open, not unlike the Imagination's door back in Roman's room. That felt a little weird. Surely Roman would have had the sense to close the castle doors behind him (the best he could in his small form) if he really wanted to cover his tracks and be left alone.

 _Maybe he was too busy having his hissy fit to think about that,_ Remus thought and then frowned at the spike of… guilt? that rose at the insult. What was he feeling guilty for? Roman was renowned for pouting and getting grumpy when things didn't go his way. Why was this time any different?

It wasn't, he told himself as he pushed past the doors and into the open throne room. It wasn't.

It wasn't, he started to tell himself once more, until he saw the birdcage hanging by a hook from one of the pillars, and the figure of a woman who was decidedly very much unwelcome.

Roman saw him first. He didn't make a sound, but as he moved, the birdcage he was trapped in swayed slightly. His ears perked and his eyes widened. Something looked odd, though, which again wasn't surprising.

It didn't stop Remus' gut from twisting with anger when he realised the dragon was covered in bruises, his scales dented and discoloured. His little wings were gashed, too. Remus felt a snarl building up in his throat. He whirled to the second party in the room, who was currently bent over the throne, murmuring quietly to herself.

"Hey, Dragon Bitch!" he shouted.

The witch stiffened, then straightened up and turned. Her dark, glittering eyes immediately locked onto Remus. Her lips spread in a pointed-toothily smile. It wasn't very intimidating.

"Oh, a nickname," she purred. Inside his cage, Roman hissed. She ignored him. "How... _creative."_

Remus squinted at her, tilting his head. "Was that an insult?" he asked after a pause. "Because honestly, I'm feeling almost validated right now. It's a weird feeling."

Her clawed hands twitched. Remus met her gaze unwaveringly.

She lunged at him. Remus almost managed to dodge, but her talons caught him by the neck. She threw him to the marble floor, cracking it beneath him. He grinned up at her, for a moment choosing not to struggle much.

But then the distressed yowls and hisses coming from Roman as he fought against the bars of his cage made Remus' heart do weird things.

He kicked the Dragon Witch in the stomach, promptly throwing her off of him. He climbed to his feet, but she was back faster than he thought she would be. He ducked away from her talons, but her lashing tail still caught him in the side. He hit the ground with a thud and snarl. He flipped onto his back and grabbed her wrists before she could attack further and twisted them across each other. With a startled shriek, she lost her balance and Remus smashed his forehead into her nose, hearing a satisfying crunch.

Screeching, she launched herself off him, staggering back. Remus laughed as he stood. He didn't bother conjuring his weapon; he punched her in the face, not caring for her hands delicately covering her nose. She stumbled, and he kicked out, catching her legs and tipping her backwards.

He eyed her wings when they splayed out around her when she hit the ground. He briefly considered ripping them off and taking them back as trophies — that way, he would be able to hang up a pair of wings on his bed — but Roman was making dragon noises again.

Remus turned to look at him through the thin bars of the cage.

"Really?" he asked, heading over to it. "You really can't break out of these flimsy things?" Roman scowled at him. "Did you even attempt to like, burn your way through it? You know metal can melt."

Roman snarled and huffed a breath of fire out the side of the cage. It flickered across the metal, making the bars glow orange, but it faded quickly. Remus stared at his brother.

"Your fire isn't hot enough?" he said incredulously. "What sort of dragon are you?"

Roman didn't meet his gaze, but Remus knew the expression that crossed his snout.

"And now you're sulking again," he grumbled, but he knew Roman heard him from the twitch of his ears. "You really are pathetic, you know." Roman's ears twitched again and this time he lifted his head. He chirped loudly and Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Go off all you like."

He was about to reach up to fiddle with the cage, but the flap of wings caught his attention.

Remus barely had time to turn before a dark, leathery wing caught him in the face. He yelped, startled, and staggered back. He blinked the stars from his eyes, but they returned when a second hit sent his neck snapping to the side.

Something smashed into his face. After a moment he realised it was the floor. He raised his head, blinking.

A long, loud hiss echoed in his ears moments before he felt the stupid bitch witch slam her foot onto his back like he was some stupid deer carcass she'd shot as a prize. His spine screamed in protest as she pushed down. He grit his teeth, adamant against making any kind of sound that would satisfy her.

It must have pissed her off, because then she kicked him in the side with enough force to tip him over onto his back. She seethed down at him, her fangs bared angrily. Remus smirked. It was far too easy to annoy people, sometimes.

He wasn't smirking when the witch brought her tail down onto his stomach. He snarled, the breath whooshing out of him. He coughed, and then coughed again. He glared at the witch's boots as he moved onto his hands and knees, coughing over the floor. He glowered down at the splatters of blood now staining the pristine castle tiles.

"Fucking _hell."_ He coughed. He shook his head, trying to clear his fuzzy head. _"Damn."_

In front of him, the Dragon Witch crouched, peering down at him. She looked amused. "Awe, does the Dukey have a boo-boo?"

"Fuck you," he snarled, slowly pushing himself up.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. She stood up, still towering over him. "You're as weak as—"

A red blur crashed into her face. Remus' focus sharpened in shock.

Roman snarled as he batted his wings over the witch's head, grappling for balance on the unsteady surface. His tail flung out as the witch reared back, twisting in an attempt to shake him.

"You PEST!" she shrieked. Remus couldn't stop himself from laughing in shock. He glanced back at the birdcage. A melting, burning hole had been seared into the bars. _Guess his fire can get hot enough._

An ear-shattering wail jerked Remus' attention back over to the two squabbling dragons. He watched in awe as Roman's talons found the Dragon Witch's brow line and dragged downwards. His tiny claws dug into her eye socket, raking and slashing.

With another scream of pain, the Dragon Witch grabbed Roman by the wings and ripped him from her face. She threw him to the ground, and even though he tried to flap to slow his fall, the tears in his wings rendered them useless. He thumped at an awkward angle to the floor.

Remus made to stand but agony shot up his body. It shouldn't have been enough to stop him. He'd gotten hurt worse than this before, surely! No way should he have not been able to move to help his brother.

He should've pushed himself. He should have fought through the pain. He should have at least yelled or called and grabbed the witch's attention. Anything to keep her from doing what she did next.

Remus didn't get nightmares often. Or, at least, dreams he would classify as nightmares. He didn't dream about much that scared him. He knew Virgil got them frequently, and Roman — sometimes Janus, too. But he never had something that scared him enough to label as a 'nightmare'.

Even so, he knew he would be hearing the sound Roman made when the Dragon Witch stomped down on top of him in his dreams for months.

The Dragon Witch's eyes glimmered as she stared intently down at the small dragon she had trapped under her boot. He squirmed, his tail lashing and wings batting ineffectively at her shoe.

Eventually, once he'd stopped moving altogether, she relaxed. She lifted her boot, waiting to see if he'd try to escape, but he didn't even twitch.

She huffed with a smirk.

Then the rounded, spiked end of a morning star caught her in the chest.

Remus swung his weapon again, hitting her in the side of the head before she could recover. Her snarl was cut short when he stomped down onto her jaw, not even satisfied with the following _crunch._

Her wings beat frantically against his hands and weapon, unable to see past the blood now streaming into her remaining eye. Remus curled his lips at the leathery, bat-like limbs, distastefully reminded of Roman's desperate attempts to get her to lift her boot only moments before.

"They're not even worth hanging up," he muttered.

The resounding scream that echoed through the Imagination didn't faze him in the slightest.

Remus frowned down at the shuddering mess of blood and limbs at his feet. The now-less-dragon-more-witch wasn't even writhing anymore, apparently too exhausted. He bent down, staring at her crazed, wild eye. "Don't fucking come near my baby brother again."

He didn't get a reply, even as he stood up, but he didn't particularly care. He snapped, and she disappeared, off to the edges of the Imagination, hopefully forever.

"We're the same age, moron," Roman said, behind him.

Remus whirled and crossed his arms. "You can transform out of pure spite?"

Roman rolled his eyes but made no move to stand up from where he was still lying on the cold marble floor. "For your information, I am not anyone's _baby."_

Remus scoffed, about to retort, but then Roman was crying, big, fat tears rolling down the sides of his face, his body trembling with suppressed sobs, and Remus' mind short circuited.

He swallowed, and cautiously moved to his brother's side. He sat awkwardly beside the prince, staring around the throne room and listening to him cry. The hell was he supposed to do?

Wait— Janus had been hugging Patton, hadn't he? Earlier, back in the living room. When the moral side had been crying his heart out. After Roman had run off.

Remus glanced down at his brother, uncomfortably uncertain. Then, before he could think twice about it, bent down, scooped his brother up into his arms, and pulled him up to his chest.

Roman gasped sharply. Too late, Remus remembered the prince's probably broken ribs, and winced. To his surprise, however, Roman didn't pull away. He felt his brother grip the back of his clothes in tight fists, his arms trembling around him.

Remus made awkward shushing noises, pressing his forehead to Roman's temple. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his own rapidly beating heart. He didn't realise he'd gotten so worked up. A cough threatened to spill out of his chest but he swallowed it, thinking distantly about the iron taste that was making his throat feel thick.

He leaned back as Roman buried his face in Remus' shoulder, sobs racking his beaten body. Remus frowned, his eyes scanning his brother. He didn't look hurt outside of the bruises marring his usually perfect face, but—

_A keening whimper wheezing out past little, red-scaled jaws—_

Remus squeezed Roman, maybe a little too tight, because his brother let out a small noise of protest.

"Sorry," he murmured. Roman's next sob might have been a bit of a laugh. He shook his head against Remus' chest. He mumbled something but Remus didn't hear it. "Can you stand?"

Roman pulled back, sniffing and grimacing. "I— I can try," he hiccuped.

Remus eased the prince carefully to his feet, helping support him.

Rather abruptly, a series of coughs attacked Remus. He slammed down to his knees, heaving. He hacked up blood onto the white floor.

"Remus!" Roman cried, joining his side despite his small whimper of pain when he moved his broken body.

"I'm fine," Remus said, spitting out a clump of blood. He shook his head and helped Roman stand once more. "Let's just go."

"But—"

"Hey. Shut up." Remus whacked Roman (gently) in the back of the head. "Listen to your older brother." Roman rolled his eyes but didn't protest any further, which was only mildly worrying. Remus slung his brother's arm around his shoulders and guided him out of the ruined castle.

Roman staggered, whimpering. He leaned heavily against Remus, gasping. Remus tutted, but it was halfhearted. He couldn't bring himself to be truly annoyed with his brother right now.

"You drama queen," he said softly.

"Intrusive thot," Roman retorted, weakly. Remus grinned in place of a laugh; he didn't want to start coughing again.

The pair made achingly slow progress across the small field to the forest, Remus carrying most of their weight and swallowing back coughs and blood every few steps. Roman's legs trembled each time they moved. His eyes were squeezed shut.

Remus almost commented, again, on how dramatic Roman was being, before he dipped completely.

Caught by surprise, Remus lunged awkwardly to catch him, fumbling with the unwieldy weight. Once he'd gotten a firm grip on the other creativity, Remus slapped him none-too-gently across the face. Roman didn't react.

Remus groaned, exasperated, and swung his stupid brother into his arms. He couldn't stop a cough squeezing out of his chest, but quickly stifled it before it could get out of hand. He ignored the ways his lungs burned and kept walking.

He found it ridiculous that Roman had been struggling that much with a few broken ribs, and yet Remus was managing to practically carry him while his own insides were destroyed.

The Imagination's red door came into view, and Remus wondered how much time had passed.

 _You're_ used _to these sorts of injuries,_ a voice said in the back of his mind. Remus realised he agreed with it.

He kicked the door down — thankfully not literally, because his brother would kill him — and ducked out of the Imagination. He had never happier to get away from the stupid land of butterflies and castles and dragons.

Remus stomped down to the living room without preamble and grinned at the group of sides he came face to face with.

Remus would later make himself realise how horrifying the image would have been. Of course, to other sides, Remus sauntering into the room with blood splattered down his chin and clothes, holding an unconscious, deathly pale Roman, would probably be a pretty disturbing scenario.

For now, however, he was horribly confused at the simultaneous screams that greeted him.

He blinked, almost stumbling backwards. Clothes swarmed his vision as he was unable to make out what they were all doing. He almost called out when he felt them take Roman from his arms, but he bit his tongue and stayed silent.

He realised after a moment that he had stumbled, and probably lost his footing. He figured he should have been slightly irritated about that but found he didn't have the energy.

"Remus," someone was saying. He frowned. What was he looking at? It was blurry.

"Huh?" he gurgled, realising with a start his mouth was full of blood. Shit. The voice said his name again, but whatever he'd been looking at had gone dark. That was frustrating.

Roman. Shit— where was Roman? He was okay, right? Fuck, he _should've_ been. Remus had got him to the mindscape, so he should be safe. The others would be helping him. How do you fix broken ribs? What if it was worse than just a few broken bones? What if he'd been dying? He'd fainted halfway through the forest but— Remus hadn't even checked if he'd been _breathing._ What if he'd _died?_ And Remus hadn't even NOTICED?

_Shit._

"There."

Remus blinked. The fuck?

He lifted his head, wondering why the hell he didn't feel the constant need to cough anymore.

"Stop, stop," a voice — the same from before? — said.

Remus frowned. Janus?

"Yes, yes, now stop talking," the snake-faced side said. Remus wondered if he'd spoken out loud or something.

"The hell happened?" he asked. Janus sighed exasperatedly. Before he could answer, Remus' vision cleared (or maybe he had opened his eyes) and he sprung up, finding that he was sitting on the couch.

"Remus, what the hell?" Virgil's voice cried. Remus squinted, wondering if the black and purple blur was the anxious side. "Janus told you to stop moving!"

"Roman," Remus rasped. He scowled at the hoarse, rough quality of his voice. He had already tried eating gravel before and opted not to try it again. There should have been no reason that he currently sounded like he had swallowed spoonfuls of the stuff.

Virgil stared at him, looking painfully clueless. Remus growled, forcing out a strained, "Where?"

Virgil blinked, being shaken from his daze. "Roman's— he's better off than you are! Stop moving!"

Remus waved him off and stood up. Virgil squawked and darted for him. Remus shrugged off his hands.

"Remus!" Virgil cried insistently. "There's no way you can go upstairs like this!" Remus looked over at him, and Virgil paled. "Wait— don't—"

Remus turned and made a (albeit slightly wobbly) beeline for the staircase.

 _"Remus!_ God's sake—" Virgil's grumbling cut off abruptly, and Remus distantly wondered if Janus had stopped him.

Remus sped up the staircase — at least, he thought he did. He muttered darkly to himself when he stumbled and had to grip onto the railing. He didn't know he'd been struggling so much until Janus appeared at his side. He didn't say anything, which Remus appreciated, but he silently let Remus lean on him, aiding him up the stairs.

The moment he breached the stupid staircase, Remus shot to his brother's door and found it already open. He burst into the uncharacteristically dark room without a second thought.

Logan obviously wasn't expecting that; he whirled around, looking alarmed despite his already-existing drawn expression.

"Remus!" If he had the energy, Remus would have already repeated everything he'd heard from the other two in an attempt to shut up the nerd. Unfortunately, he did not have that energy. "You shouldn't be moving so soon! Your body needs time to recover and the more you force it to work, the less—"

"Yeah, yeah," Remus bit out, too tired to deal with any more fretting. "Whatever. Fuck off."

He pushed past the logical side. He was met with a matching set of disapproving looks.

"Be nice," Patton admonished softly.

Remus groaned. "Fuck off, _please,"_ he said over his shoulder. He heard a snort that sounded suspiciously like Virgil, but he ignored it in favour of stalking forward and poking Roman harshly in the cheek. "The hell was that, making me drag you all the way here?"

Roman frowned at him. Somehow, he looked more tired than Remus felt. "Wasn't all the way," he protested halfheartedly.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Can you move?"

"Remus—" Patton started at the same time as Roman hesitantly nodded.

"Good. Scoot over."

Patton's mouth snapped shut with an audible click, and if he cared enough, Remus would have been able to feel the burn of the combined stares he was receiving from the sides behind him.

He didn't care though, and once Roman had shifted slowly over to the side of the bed, Remus all but collapsed, face down, onto the mattress beside him.

He might've been aware of the shocked silence if he weren't so busy thinking about how, while it was nice to lie down, Roman's smooth, clean bedding could really use something to spice it up.

_Ooo, maybe a literal spice. What's the most poisonous thing I have in my room?_

"Rem..?" Roman murmured beside him. He grunted in reply. "Are… you okay?" He replied with a muffled _mhm._

Blissful silence.

Roman ruined it, like he always ruined everything.

"What are you doing?"

Remus groaned exasperatedly and lifted his head, turning to glare at his brother. "Trying to sleep," he snapped. "Something we both need. Now shut up." He almost collapsed again before he realised everyone else was still in the room, as well. He scowled and sat up. "What are you all gawking at?"

"Remus." Logan's voice was firm, but quiet as he stepped forward. Remus felt like he was being scrutinized under his sharp gaze. "You and Roman both just arrived in the mindscape—"

"Half beaten to death," Virgil added.

"Slightly an exaggeration, but not by much," Janus mused absentmindedly.

"Kiddo," whispered Patton. He sat down beside Remus, perched on the edge of the bed. "What _happened?"_

Remus stared down at the ground. He half-shrugged, suddenly feeling very small. "Dragon Witch," he mumbled. "Took care of her, though."

Logan ran his tie between his fingers, which was a nervous habit Remus had never seen of him. "If the Dragon Witch was involved in this certain transformation, it could explain why Roman was not as… conscious of his actions, as a dragon."

"We won't have to worry about that anymore," Remus assured them. "She won't be a bother for a while."

Virgil looked slightly sick, having known him long enough to know what he was implying. Janus' poker face was resolute as always, but it didn't disguise how tense his shoulders had gotten.

"So, she was the one who injured you?" the deceitful side asked. "It wasn't Roman who attacked you?"

"What? No!" Remus cried, appalled, then quickly caught himself. He glanced back at Roman, about to get him to explain — to all of them — how he had gone from running to his room to being captured in a birdcage in a half-destroyed castle within minutes.

Closed eyes and steady, slightly shallow breaths greeted him, and Remus hesitated. God, what was _wrong_ with him, recently? Was hanging around the light sides making him go _soft?_ Gross.

He eventually opted not to wake his brother, though, and turned back to the others. "He was back to normal when I found him. Well," he air quoted, _"normal."_

"He was still a dragon?" Patton asked. Remus wasn't sure how he felt about how big and blue his eyes had gotten.

Heaving a deep breath and tugging on his basically non-existent patience, Remus explained everything, from the moment he'd left the group downstairs, which, somehow, felt like much longer ago than an hour.

He had started to describe what he had done to the Dragon Witch, but Virgil had shifted on his feet, a telltale sign he was getting uncomfortable, and Patton looked like he was seconds away from fleeing to be sick in the bathroom, so he quickly skipped the gory details. (Which got him annoyed at himself again, because why the hell did he care about what they thought? His job was to disturb people! So why did he find himself constantly censoring himself as he continued his story?)

Once he had finally finished, a hushed silence fell over the bedroom.

"Unfortunately, the Dragon Witch is more than just a mindless element to the Imagination," Logan said finally. He gifted a small smile in Remus' direction. "However, it certainly sounds as though you have helped to keep her at bay. For a while, at least."

"Roman hasn't mentioned her much at all in the last few months," said Virgil, unexpectedly. "The last we directly heard of her was that first time she cursed Roman into a dragon. Before that, even when he fought her back himself, Roman was complaining almost every week about her bothering him. Maybe when one of us play a hand in defeating her, Roman gets more confident — which would simultaneously help him and weaken her."

Virgil seemed to realise he'd been speaking out loud and that now, everyone was staring at him. He blinked, his eyes widening. He shrunk back, almost hiding behind Janus, who chuckled.

"Astute," he said, smiling down at the anxious side. Virgil didn't meet anyone's gaze, but Remus could have sworn his cheeks darkened. Remus tilted his head at the pair. Weirdos.

"A highly likely possibility," Logan agreed approvingly.

Remus yawned, surprising himself.

Everyone seemed to take that as their cue to leave. Patton herded everyone out of the room, but Janus paused at the doorway. Remus met his gaze lazily. He watched mutely as the snake-faced side turned and sat beside him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, which took Remus off-guard. He squinted at Janus' face, which was slightly blurry in the dim room.

"Tired," he said.

Janus smiled. It was the type of smile he didn't use very often, only on special occasions for special people. Remus wondered if that was him. "Yes, well. Other than tired."

Remus thought about that. How did he feel? He found his gaze moving backwards, over his shoulder, to his knocked-the-fuck-out brother.

"Should've protected him," he murmured. "Witch Bitch hurt him. Bad."

Janus hummed in agreement. "I can't _wait_ to hear Logan's report on just how much he's managed to damage, this time."

Remus shook his head, frowning. "My fault," he mumbled. "Had a chance to move. Didn't take it."

"Why?" Janus asked. It was an innocent enough question, but there was… something else in his eyes. "Was it because you were too injured?"

"Doesn't matter," Remus grumbled. Janus moved, gently eased him down onto the mattress.

"I think you'll find that you will wake to five separate, differing opinions," Janus said softly.

Remus frowned up at him, trying to work out what that meant. Janus only smiled again. "You did more than any of us could have." Remus thought about arguing before he realised that he couldn't really do that effectively. All his thoughts completely evaporated, though, when he felt gentle fingers running through his hair. Shit, that felt good. "You saved yourself, and your brother, and brought yourselves back in one piece. Even if that piece was a little battered."

And really, Remus had no energy left to do anything, let alone argue with that line of logic.

"Get some rest." The smooth voice was now little more than a disembodied sound washing over him. "No more adventuring for a while. For either of you."

Remus rolled onto his side, curling over something warm and comforting. It smelt way too flowery and clean. Remus considered drenching it with a bucket of oil and mud to get the smell from his nose.

He fell asleep quickly.

The mindscape, as strange as it seemed, was quiet.

Not at all in a suspicious way, or the kind of silence that was too loud to concentrate. It was pleasant. It possibly helped that Thomas was currently napping, leaving his mind a peaceful, calm environment for his exhausted sides.

Even weeks later, Thomas' Creativities were both still slowly getting over their most recent trauma. The moment the group had left Roman's bedroom and gotten downstairs, Virgil had been furious enough to make Thomas feel nervous in the real world. Patton had rushed to reassure him, rising into the apartment's living room, but it had taken some explanation. Janus had calmed Virgil down. Later Patton had learned that he hadn't been made at any of them, but regardless, it had been sweet, in the moment, watching the two sides get along.

Patton was on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through a book. It felt very Logan, but the only other side in the room hadn't commented on it.

Patton ran his hand through Remus' hair again and felt the intrusive creativity sink more heavily against his leg. Patton smiled.

When things had somewhat calmed down, Janus had slipped to Patton about relaxing Remus by playing with his hair. It was something Patton hadn't forgotten about since, and now even if it was just a casual ruffle, the moral side took every opportunity to try and distract the embodiment of intrusive thoughts from… his own thoughts. The poor side had been highly strung since arriving back in the mindscape. He seemed like he was constantly thinking, and often his expression suggested that nothing travelling through his mind was particularly pleasant.

Now, however, it seemed he was truly calm for the first time in a few weeks.

That was soon ruined. Of course, in the best way possible.

Logan came down the stairs, looking bleary eyed. Patton looked up with a smile, about to comment on it, before he spotted the logical side's little friend draped across his shoulders. He giggled.

"Having fun up there, baby?" he asked. Roman chirped quietly in response.

Remus' eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet. Roman flinched back, looking more startled than afraid as Remus bounded over to Logan.

Logan lifted the dragon from his shoulders and Remus grabbed hurriedly for his brother. Logan pulled back and gave him a narrow-eyed look. Remus sighed and calmed his movements, waiting faux-patiently. Logan pushed the dragon into Remus' hands and delighted, Remus squished him against his chest with a squeal.

"You're a dragon! Finally!" Roman writhed in his grip with a small hiss and Remus winced, loosening his grip. "Sorry, sorry." He pulled back with a wide, toothy grin. "Got overexcited."

Roman huffed, but voluntarily wiggled up to rest the side of his head on Remus' collarbone. Remus grinned over at Patton, who smiled back in return before moving into the kitchen with Logan.

Remus wandered aimlessly around the living room as the two nerds made breakfast. He talked, a little pointlessly, to Roman, about ideas he had been culminating for days. Roman watched silently, apart from the little purrs or trills he'd respond with whenever Remus asked a question or trailed off hesitantly.

By the time Patton called for everyone, Virgil and Janus slunk into the room and everyone was at the table for breakfast, Remus was weirdly happy. It was a strange feeling, but not entirely unwelcome. He thought about this while he munched on his toast.

He was decidedly less happy when Roman got tired of his loud eating habits and snagged the toast from his plate. Remus yelped when the dragon darted from his shoulder and launched himself through the air, flapping a little clumsily.

"HEY!" Remus roared, surging up from the table and ignoring the others' laughs.

Roman glanced back, as if to make sure Remus was watching him, and then sped up the stairs with lightning speed, the whole slice of toast still clamped in his tiny jaws.

"Get back here, you cunning, toast-stealing BITCH," Remus bellowed, darting after him, leaving the rest of the table in a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

**Epilogue**

Roman was humming. It was a bit of a rare sight, recently; he hadn't been in a good enough mood.

However, the moment his ribs had fully healed, he'd belted out one of the loudest songs he could think of, which had initially driven Virgil and Logan mad.

Later, Janus had arrived and quietly told him that really, they'd enjoyed seeing him so upbeat again. (Roman may have taken that opportunity to sing more often, thanks to a smirk or subtle nod from Janus each time, that every complaint that he was met with was a cover up).

He'd just spent the past hour helping Patton make dinner and swinging Janus around the living room floor. Virgil eventually had broken them up, claiming he was moments away from being sick. Janus had laughed, and Roman had frankly been too breathless and happy to worry about if Virgil had been lying or not. He'd twirled Virgil around in a mute fuck you, but Virgil had been too flustered and dizzy to retort. By the time he'd recovered, Roman had disappeared up the stairs.

Now he was humming a pleasant tune, considering what colours he could splash onto any poor blank canvases he had left.

He stopped in his tracks, however, when he spotted a forlorn, green shape huddled in front of his bedroom door at the end of the hallway.

He got closer, and the shape moved. Big, red eyes stared up at him, silently pleading.

Roman blinked, then smiled warmly. "Awe, what, you little beast?" he teased, approaching the green-scaled dragon and crouching down in front of him. "Sulking, are we?"

Instead of hissing, like Roman expected him too, Remus warbled agreeably.

Roman blinked again. He laughed softly. "Very well." He stood up and opened his bedroom door. Remus bounded in, chattering happily.

Roman hid a smile, prayed Remus wouldn't break anything too valuable, and followed him in.

**Author's Note:**

> tbc
> 
> 'book fucker' nickname credit to PurpleCatGhost


End file.
